Medications Storage and Time Keeping Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A combination of an organizer for medications and an alarm clock is disclosed. A rigid housing is divided into at least seven peripheral compartments, each of which is open at one side thereof and has a pivoting door. Each door and compartment may further include a manually-actuable mechanical door snap for holding the door in the closed position. At least seven such peripheral compartment doors are included having an indicia thereon for indicating a day of the week. One of the compartments may be designated as a spoon compartment, adapted to receive a spoon for allowing a user to physically manage medications contained in at least one of the other compartments. Likewise, one other of the compartments may be designated as a tweezers compartment. An alarm clock is fixed proximate the center of the housing, the alarm clock for reminding the user once each day to take the medication in the compartment corresponding to the present day of the week.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 60/860,906, filed on Nov. 24, 2006, and incorporated hereinby reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to organizers, and more particularly to amedication organizer combined with a time keeping apparatus.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

It is well known that taking medication on a timely, prescribed basis isvital to the effectiveness of the medication. If doses are missed,certain ailments can actually become more acute. If doses are added, themedication itself may become dangerous to a patient's health. As such,having a means by which to remember to take medications, vitamins, orthe like is important, particularly to those who have troubleremembering to take their medication, or if they have already takentheir medication, on a particular day. Elderly and the infirm often needsome type of reminding device.

Being properly reminded to take one's medication, however, is onlyvaluable if it is also evident what medications are to be taken.Disparate prescriptions, vitamins, and the like often are delivered tothe patient in separate jars, and thus the patient must remember whichmedications to take, and which medications have already been taken, fora particular day.

Medication organizers exist that have elaborate timing and schedulingmeans, and that lock or unlock particular compartments of a medicineorganizer. However, such devices are overly complicated, making themdifficult to use, particularly by the elderly or infirm. Further, suchdevices are relatively expensive to manufacture, and provide no meansfor easily physically managing what are sometimes relatively smalltablets or pills.

Therefore, there is a need for a device that provides a simple-to-use,easy-to-read alarm clock type of mechanism combined with a medicationorganizer that is itself simple to both read and use. Further, such aneeded device would provide means for physically managing small pillsand tablets. The present invention accomplishes these objectives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present device is a combination of an organizer for medications andan alarm clock. A rigid housing is divided into at least sevenperipheral compartments, each of which is open at one side thereof andhas a pivoting door. Each door and compartment may further include amanually-actuable mechanical door snap for holding the door in theclosed position. At least seven such peripheral compartment doors areincluded having an indicia thereon for indicating a day of the week.

The combination further includes an alarm clock fixed proximate thecenter of the housing. Such an alarm clock has a readable face orientedtowards a top side of the housing, and a clock control means accessiblefrom a bottom side of the housing through a bottom aperture. A bottomaperture door is adapted to selectively cover the bottom aperture. Suchan alarm clock can be set to remind the user to take the medication inthe compartment corresponding to the present day of the week.

One of the compartments may be designated as a spoon compartment,adapted to receive a spoon for allowing a user to physically managemedications contained in at least one of the other compartments.Likewise, one other of the compartments may be designated as a tweezerscompartment, adapted to receive a tweezers for allowing a user tophysically manage medications contained in at least one of the othercompartments.

The present invention provides a simple-to-use, easy-to-read alarm clocktype of mechanism combined with a medication organizer that is itselfsimple to both read and use. Further, the present device provides meansfor physically managing small pills and tablets. Other features andadvantages of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing more detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated with twocompartment doors in an open position;

FIG. 3 is a left-side elevational view of a spoon of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a left-side elevational view of a tweezers of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one compartment of the invention,illustrated with its compartment door in the open position;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tweezers;

FIG. 7 is a rear elevational view of the invention, illustrated with arear aperture door in an open position to expose a clock control means;and

FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view of the invention, illustrated with therear aperture door in a closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a combination 10 of an organizer formedications and an alarm clock. The medications (not shown) arepreferably pills, tablets, or the like.

A rigid housing 46, made preferably from plastic, is divided into atleast seven peripheral compartments 22, each of which is open at oneside thereof (FIG. 6). Each compartment 22 has a pivoting door 24 thatis adapted to selectively cover the one open side 23. Such a pivotingdoor 24 is preferably formed into the housing 22 with a living spring,or the like, on one edge thereof. As such, the pivoting door 24 may beselectively set to cover the one open side 23, or set into an openposition (FIGS. 2 and 6). Each door 24 and compartment 22 may furtherinclude a manually-actuable mechanical door snap 54 for holding the door24 in the closed position, over the one open side 23 of the compartment22. The cover 24 is preferably transparent or translucent, so as toallow a user to see inside of each compartment 22. The housing 46 may beopaque, transparent, or translucent, such as in the case wherein thehousing 46 is made from acrylic, for example.

At least seven such peripheral compartment doors 24 are included havingan indicia 26 thereon for indicating a day of the week. Further, eachcompartment door 24 may further include an indicia 26 of a specific andunique color, to further aid in identifying a desired compartment 22.

The combination 10 further includes an alarm clock 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2)fixed proximate the center of the housing 46. Such an alarm clock 28 hasa readable face 29 oriented towards a top side 49 of the housing 46, anda clock control means 31 accessible from a bottom side 47 of the housingthrough a bottom aperture 48. A bottom aperture door 52 is adapted toselectively cover the bottom aperture 48 (FIGS. 7 and 8). Preferably thealarm clock 28 is of the type wherein the clock control means 31includes a battery 65 contained within a battery compartment 64, a timeadjustment knob 56, an alarm time adjustment knob 60, and an alarmactivation switch 62. The alarm clock 28 is powered by the battery 65 todrive the readable face 29 to track the correct time once the timeadjustment knob 56 is used to set the correct time. If the alarmactivation switch 62 is in an “alarm set” mode, once the current timereaches the alarm time, as set by the alarm time adjustment knob 60, thealarm clock will produce an audible and/or visual alarm. Such an alarmreminds the user once each day to take the medication in the compartment22 corresponding to the present day of the week, as indicated by theindicia 26 on each compartment 22 containing medication.

One of the compartments 22 may be designated as a spoon compartment 38,adapted to receive a spoon 32 (FIG. 3) that has a deep area 34 forallowing a user to physically manage medications contained in at leastone of the other compartments 22. Likewise, one other of thecompartments 22 may be designated as a tweezers compartment 42, adaptedto receive a tweezers 36 (FIGS. 4 and 5) for allowing a user tophysically manage medications contained in at least one of the othercompartments 22.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be apparent that various modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, tools other than the spoon 32 or the tweezers 36 may be addedto the combination 10. Further, additional compartments 22 correspondingto AM and PM for each day of the week may further be added, for example.Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except asby the appended claims.

1. A combination organizer for medications and alarm clock, comprising:a rigid housing divided into at least seven peripheral compartments eachopen at one side thereof, each compartment having a pivoting dooradapted to selectively cover the open side, at least seven suchperipheral compartment doors including an indicia thereon for indicatinga day of the week; and an alarm clock fixed proximate the center of thehousing; the alarm clock having a readable face oriented towards a frontside of the housing and a clock control means accessible from a bottomside of the housing through a bottom aperture, a bottom aperture dooradapted to selectively cover the bottom aperture.
 2. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein at least one of the peripheral compartments is adaptedto receive a spoon, whereby a user may use the spoon to physicallymanage medications contained in at least one of the other peripheralcompartments.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein at least one of theperipheral compartments is adapted to receive a tweezers, whereby a usermay use the tweezers to physically manage medications contained in atleast one of the other peripheral compartments.
 4. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein the clock control means includes a battery containedwithin a battery compartment, a time adjustment knob, an alarm timeadjustment knob, and an alarm activation switch.
 5. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein the bottom aperture door and each compartment door eachinclude a manually-actuable mechanical door snap for holding the door inplace over the open side of one of the compartments.
 6. The combinationof claim 1 wherein each compartment door has a unique color appliedthereto, the color contrasting with the indicia.